National LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) Health Awareness Week kicked off Sunday with a focus on several problems facing homosexuals, from human papillomavirus and HIV to abuse and nutrition.
Smoking is one of the targets as well. Just last fall, the American Legacy Foundation began running a series of its "truth" ads devoted exclusively to the issue of tobacco industry marketing practices directed toward homosexuals.
This week, smoking cessation programs are focusing attention on the issue. At the Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington, D.C., a special "Out to Quit" effort is planned specifically for homosexuals.
The issue itself is not new, particularly to homosexuals in California, who have been hearing the anti-smoking message since the late 1990s. For the past few Novembers, tobacco control groups have teamed with homosexuals for the Gay American Smoke Out.
"It's an emerging concern," said Perry Stevens, a public relations consultant who used to work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's smoking and health office.
"Gays and lesbians should be aware that the industry is marketing to them right now, more than ever before," Stevens said. "Gays are smoking at a higher rate than straight people - in some studies, it's twice as high as heterosexuals. And if we're smoking at higher rates, it can only mean we're going to be dying at higher rates."
Although Stevens has focused his efforts on tobacco industry marketing, he used research by his former employer to back up his views.
According to one CDC study, 59 percent of homosexual teenagers used tobacco compared to 35 percent of heterosexual teens. In another study, University of California at San Francisco researchers concluded that homosexuals were twice as likely to smoke.
Philip Morris USA, the nation's leading cigarette producer, dismissed allegations that its marketing strategies have been targeted at homosexuals more than any other segment of the population.
"When we market our products, our advertising and direct mail are for adult smokers who have made the decision to smoke," spokesman Billy Abshaw said. "It's a diverse audience. It's not pinpointed to any one group - it is for smokers, and adult smokers at that."
But Terry Burch, a tobacco program specialist at the National Association of LGBT Community Centers, said his organization has taken aim at tobacco companies by alerting homosexuals about their marketing efforts.
For instance, Burch's group led a letter-writing campaign earlier this year trying to convince Frontiers Magazine to drop cigarette advertisements after the publication ran an ad for Camel, a product of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Stevens said cigarette ads are effective because homosexuals tend to support businesses that accept their lifestyle.
"Gays and lesbians look at ads in magazines that are for us, and we take note of who is advertising and who is not," he said. "Even for gays and lesbians who don't smoke, a lot of them will look at an ad for a tobacco company and say, 'They're spending their money on a gay and lesbian publication - they must be the good guys.' It's a really good marketing effort."
Another strategy of tobacco companies, Burch said, is the use of special "bar nights" to draw in homosexuals. Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds both use them as a promotional strategy, but they denied that these efforts were being directed at homosexuals any more than the general population.
"Bars are a logical place for cigarette companies to interact with adult smokers," R.J. Reynolds spokeswoman Jan Smith said. "If the accusation is that we only go into bars that are particularly popular among the gay population, that's simply not true; we go to all kinds of bars."
If marketing is not the reason for increased smoking among homosexuals, other factors - including stress, depression and anxiety - could be, said Mary Beth Flournoy, clinical program manager for the Whitman-Walker Clinic's smoking cessation operation.
"There are theories that gay and lesbian people smoke more than the average straight person because of the bar culture, and there is research out there that people are smoking because they have anxiety or depression," she said.
Flournoy said about 90 people have taken part in the clinic's smoking cessation program since it started last fall. She expects it to grow as more research is conducted on the topic, especially if a definitive link is proven.
In other parts of the country, the issue is getting further study at Ithaca College in upstate New York thanks to a $3,150 grant from the local county government. The college's Center for LGBT Education, Outreach and Services will use the money to help homosexual students quit smoking.
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